The Gifts That Come Our Way
by Blanco
Summary: What would have happened if Betty was pregnant with Matt's baby in S4?  Would the lives of Daniel and Betty change forever?


**Chapter One – The Unexpected Gift**

_Oh my God, _Betty thought as she looked at the test. _It's positive. I'm going to have a baby; I'm going to be a mother._

Matt was staring at her across the bathroom, waiting for her to say something, to show any signs.

"It's positive," she said, "we're going to have a baby."

"Wow..."

"Yup," Betty said as she sat next to him on the bathroom floor. "That's an understatement. What are we going to do now?" Matt just looked at her, a small slime starting to spread on his face.

"Betty," he said "this is wonderful, this is a good thing. We are going to have a baby!"

"I know...I know, it's just that, with everything that's been going on here, with my career finally starting to take off, a baby was not what I had in mind. I mean, down the road, in the far far future, sure why not? But now, I just feel like..."

"Betty, having a baby with you will be the most wonderful thing that ever happened in my life. We'll make it work somehow."

She didn't have to answer because in that second a loud knock on the door interrupted their thoughts.

"Betty, Betty come on, what is going on in there?" Came the loud voice of her father. "Whatever it is I just want you to know that I am going to support you one hundredth percent of the way. Just tell me, what is going on?"

Matt and Betty looked at each other for a second, considering what way was the best to break the news to the rest of the family. Betty got up, straightened her clothes and threw the pregnancy test in the garbage. She took Matt's hand, each of them smiling reassuringly to one another. She took a deep breath and slowly opened the bathroom door coming face to face with her father's worry face.

"I'm pregnant," Betty said to her father not wanting to prolong the news any longer.

Her father looked at her and smiled softly. Betty could see however, that the smile did not reach his eyes. She couldn't state any longer at her father, so she dropped her gaze to the floor, not daring to look up.

"Betty mija, it's alright. That's not a bad thing, on the contrary. Sure, the time might not have been perfect, but it's still a baby and it's still your child and my grandchild," her father said in an encouraging tone.

Betty finally looked up, with tears forming in her eyes.

"You know that I will support you, and that I will be here for you, helping you. And I am sure Matt will do the same," Ignatio said as his gaze turned to Matt, looking at him menacingly.

"Thank you papi," Betty said as she finally let her tears fall down her face.

When they returned to the living room everyone was waiting patiently for them, eager to see what was happening. When they saw Betty with her eyes red and the positive pregnancy test in her hand, there were no words necessary to be said to realize what was happening.

The rest of the night passed in a blur for Betty. All she wanted was for everyone to leave so she could have her thoughts for herself. She need to think about everything that has happened, she needed time to understand what was happening and how to solve it.

The guests had all left and her family all went to bed when Matt decided he had enough excitement for one day and he needed to go home and get some sleep. Betty walked him outside, where they stood looking at each other awkwardly.

"Betty, I..."

"Please Matt, I am really tired and really overwhelmed with everything that happened tonight. I'm not going to be able to have a conversation with you right now. We'll talk about this later," Betty said wrapping her coat around her tighter.

"I understand. I just want you to know that everything will be alright. This is great news Betty, amazing news," he said giving her one last hug. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Betty watched him get into the cab, faking a small smile while she waved him away.

When the cab was finally out of view, she took in a deep breath. She felt like she has been holding her breath for the last couple of hours. She slowly made her way back to her room, lying on the bed, never bothering to take her clothes off.

She kept going over and over in her head the possibility of her being a mother. She loved the idea; of course she loved the idea. She always dreamed of having a small baby, all soft and pink and all hers. She wanted all that. She just wasn't sure she wanted it now.

Everything was finally going great for once. Her job was great, her family was doing great, she had a perfect boyfriend; she just didn't want any of that to change. She was scared of what a baby might bring. She thought of MODE and all the people finding out she was pregnant, with her boss's baby, who was her boyfriend after all, but still. She was terrified of the change.

She got out of bed, taking another deep breath. She felt like she was suffocating. She felt she couldn't breathe. She felt that any second she was going to explode. She got off her bed and started pacing the room. She didn't know what to do; she didn't know where to go.

She stopped pacing when she noticed the framed picture on her dresser. It was a picture of her and Daniel in the Bahamas on set the Shakira shoot. She knew what to do even before she thought about it. She quickly grabbed her bag and coat and exited the house as quietly as she could. Once she was outside she took out her cell phone and texted Daniel.

_I really need you. Can I come over? _

She looked at the clock, it was past one. She just hoped that he was home and that he was alone. She got the reply in less than a minute.

_I am here._

That's all he said, and that's all Betty needed.

She hailed a cab, and made her way to Daniel's apartment. After the incident with the cult, he finally moved out of Molly's apartment and got one of his own. It was different than the apartment he had shared with Molly. This one was bigger, more modern. It suited the taste of a single man.

She paid the cab driver and made her way into the building. Not wanting to bother Daniel with the intercom she let herself in with the spare she had. The doorman was already familiar with her, so there was no need to stop and giver explanations.

She only had to knock once before Daniel opened the door. She saw the worried look on his face when he looked her, and she knew she couldn't hold it in any longer. Her tears started flowing uncontrollably and she started sobbing in a way that she never had before.

Daniel quickly pulled her though the door, taking her into his arms, gently rubbing her back and trying to console her.

"Betty, what is it? Did you have a fight with Matt? Did you guys break up?" Hearing Daniel say those words Betty started crying harder.

It took Daniel half an hour to try and calm her down so he could at least understand what was happening to her. When Betty calmed down, she took a deep breath and walked to the window, to the beautiful New York view that lied before her. She knew she had to tell Daniel the truth, and she knew she wasn't going to be able to do it while looking him in the face. So she took a deep breath and just said it.

"I'm pregnant," she said in a whisper but still loud enough for him to hear her.

For a second he thought he heard her wrong. This was Betty, _his_ Betty; the Betty who always thought things over fifty times before acting on them, the Betty that thought that because she got rid of her bangs she was fearless. That Betty would never be careless enough to get pregnant. Certainly not. He wanted to laugh out loud and tell her what a good joke that was, but when she turned around and he saw the fear in her eyes, he could tell that she was not joking.

"Wow," he said, while taking a seat on the sofa.

"I know, I know. That's not something that I would do. That is something that well, Hilda or Amanda might do, but not me. I am Betty, the Betty that is always prepared, always focused, always on schedule. I make sure things like this don't happen, I take care, I always do, but now...I just don't know what happened," she finished in a whisper.

Things were finally starting to make sense for Daniel, at least somewhat. "Is it Matt's?"

"No, it's your next door neighbour's. You know all those times I kept coming over...OF COURSE IT'S MATT'S. WHAT KIND OF A QUESTION IS THAT?" She screamed the last part.

"Look, I'm sorry but this is a surprise for me too, I'm just trying to wrap my head around this," Daniel told her as she walked and sat down beside him.

"I don't know what to do," she told him. "I was never expecting this. I mean sure, I thought about having kids one day, but not now. Not while everything is actually going well in my life."

"Is Matt...I mean, is he not supportive?" Daniel asked tentatively.

"No, no. That's the weird part, I was expecting him to be as freaked out as I am, but he's not. He's happy almost that we are going to have this baby. Which is really weird. He's really excited about this."

"Betty, why are _you_ not exited? I mean, apart from the surprise factor and the time factor, this is not really such a terrible thing. Why are you so scared?" He asked her.

Just then she started to realize that he was right. This was not just about the surprise and the time, there something else that was bothering her more than it should. She knew that but she was scared to admit it. She was scared.

"I'm scared," she whispered.

"Of what? Betty, what is killing you like this?"

"I don't know if I can do it, alright? I don't know. I have spend all my life missing and adoring my mother, thinking that one day I want to be the mother she was for me. I thought that when the moment came I would be ready, that I would know inside me that I was ready to take on that responsibility, but it doesn't feel like that. What if I can't make it? What if I am going to be a horrible mother? "

Daniel could not believe what she was saying. He needed her to see the absurdity of what she was saying. He took her hands in his hands and looked her directly in the eyes.

"Betty, listen to me," he said. "I know that you have doubts and I know that you have fears, I know that this pregnancy is probably the wrong thing at the wrong time, but you will make it through this. You are the strongest person that I know."

Betty looked him, and in that second she knew why she had come to him. Sure, he was Daniel, the person who forgets her birthday and her reference letters, but when she needed him the most he was always there and he always seemed to know the right thing to say. He was always trying to protect her – even when things didn't turn out quiet the way they were supposed to – which was why she loved him.

"You also need to realize that you are not alone in this. You have your family and you have Matt, and you have me," he said the last part with a smile forming on his lips. She responded back with a smile of her own.

"And hey who knows, this might actually be interesting. I mean, I never really knew a baby personally, you know. I can totally help take care of the baby, walk in the part with him. Hey, I know, I can be the cool mysterious uncle that always spoils him and gets him toys and sweets behind this mother's back."

At that she had to laugh. Uncle Daniel. Now that she had to see.

As soon as he saw her laugh, he joined her. He was in fact enjoying the news. In his head he was already going over toys that he could buy the baby, and things to with the bay, which was weird because he was Daniel Meade, he had no experience with babies. Then again this was not just an ordinary baby. This was Betty's baby, sure it was Matt's too but he could overlook that one small detail. He actually smiled at the thought of Betty with a baby. A baby that would be Betty's. How amazing was that? If it was girl she could inherit Betty's eyes and Betty's smile and Betty's black hair, she would be a mini Betty. And if the baby would turn out to be a boy he would still look like Betty.

This was all kind of amazing.

"Thank you Daniel," Betty said as she moved to give him a hug. He wrapped his hand tightly around her, wanting to hold her as close as possible. Involuntarily his hands moved to her waist, closer to the center of her belly. He let them rest there thinking that inside there was a baby. He smiled at the thought. A warm feeling over took him that he couldn't explain. It was as if he could feel the warmth of the baby and it made him feel something he never felt before.

He couldn't explain the feeling but he knew that no matter what would happen he was not going to abandon Betty or the baby. He buried his head in Betty's neck, while her head was resting on his chest, hugging her tighter.

He cared for her, he loved her, and he wanted her. His heart knew that even before his mind did.

TO BE CONTINUED 


End file.
